Remotely controlled mechanical walking toy



April 22, 1952 H. SEBEL 2,593,618

REMOTELY CONTROLLED MECHANICAL WALKING TOY Filed Nov. 12, 1948 Z 7 6 i5 75 6 Harr- Sebl INV NT'OH r A-rramvga Patented Apr. 22, 1952 REMOTELY CONTROLLED MECHANICAL WALKING TOY Harry Sebel, London, England Application November 12, 1948, Serial No. 59,740 In Great Britain July 14, 1948 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to a mechanical toy which can be made to move over the surface of a floor.

An object of the invention is to provide a walking toy which can be controlled-by a person without touching the toy itself.

Broadly the invention comprises a wheeled toy having an axle adapted to be pivoted to swing horizontally and having on either side of the pivot wheels which are permitted to rotate only in one and the same direction and having means for swinging the axle about its pivot which means comprise a remote control for operation by the user of the toy.

A convenient form of remote control is a Bowden cable which is adapted on operation to move the axle about its pivot. The Bowden cable can work against a spring loading of the axle which returns the axle to one side or other of its limit of movement.

in one embodiment the toy is supported upon a pair of axles each adapted to pivot horizontally which axles are connected by tie means so that on the movement of one axle the other axle is adapted to mak a corresponding or complementary swing.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a plan view of a toy constructed in accordance with the present invention,

Figure 2 shows a side elevation of the toy shown in Figure 1, and

Figure 3 shows on an enlarged scale a detail of the toy shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The toy shown in the drawings is adapted to represent a toy tortoise and comprises a body portion 1 which is formed by a metal pressing of rectangular cross section. This body l carries a pair of pivot pins 2 and 3 which pivotally supportaxles i and 5. These axles are pressed into Zoe form of feet and are of convex section. In the claw portion at each end of the axles there is housed a rubber wheel 6 carried in a Wheel fork l which may be riveted, clipped or otherwise secured to the axle pressing. Pivoted to the wheel fork i is a bail member 8 which rests upon the eriphery of the wheel 6 and prevents the wheel rozn rotating rearwardly.

The rubber wheel 6 is held in th wheel fork l by a pin 55 which is a force fit through the wheel and projects beyond the wheel fork a sufficient distance to prevent it from leaving its bearings by reason of the wheel 6 moving laterally in the fork.

The axles 4 and 5 are connected by a tie bar 2 iii which is looped at I I. The tie bar It] connects the axles i and 5 on opposite sides of the pivots 2 and 3 so that the legs assume the position shown in the drawings. By swinging either the axle 4 or the axle 5 the other axle is constrained to move in a complementary manner.

A tension spring 12 is looped round the pivot pin 2 at one end and on to the loop I l at the other so as to draw the tie bar as far forward as is possible. Also connected to the loop II is the wire l3 of a Bowden cable it. This cable, the sheath of which bears against a face [5 provided on the body l, leaves thetoy at the tail end and is connected to an operating grip l6, operation of the grip serving to draw the Wire I3 into the cable and to move the tie bar it against the action of the spring i2 so as to swing the axles i and 5 about their pivots to their other limit of movement. Repeated operation thus causes the toy to move over the surface on which it rests since the uni-directional wheels prevent any rearward motion of the axles l and 5 in relation to the surface upon which the toy is working.

The head of the toy ll and the tail l8 are mounted respectively upon the axles 4 and 5 so that as the toy walks the head and tail rock to and fro with the axles and 5. The shell [9 is mounted upon the body I it being so shaped as to permit free movement of the axles, head and tail.

The toy may be steered by proper manipulation of the grip Hi. If the grip is squeezed only half way and then released; the toy moves forward and turns toward the left. If, on the other hand, the grip is squeezed all the way, then released only half way and squeezed again all the way, the toy moves forward and turns toward the right. i

To describe the steering operation in more dotail, let it be assumed that the parts are in their normal stationary positions as shown in the drawing, and that a left turn is desired. As mentioned above, the grip is squeezed only half way, which will bring the axles to positions at right angles to the body I. In reaching this position, the front axle pivots clockwise about the sta tionary right front wheel, so that the pivot connection between the body l and the axle 4 is moved not only forward but also slightly to the left. During this movement, the rear axle 5 pivots counterclockwise about the stationary left rear wheel, so that the pivot connection between body l and axle 4 is moved forward and slightly to the right. The net result is to face the body of the toy in a direction somewhat to the left of its initial position. The hand grip is then released, allowing the axles to return to their initial angular positions relative to the body. However, the left front wheel is now stationary and the front axle 4 pivots counterclockwise about it, carrying the pivot connection between axle 4 and body I forward and to the left. Also, the right rear Wheel is stationary and the rear axle 5 pivots clockwise about it, carrying the pivot connection between axle 5 and body I forward and to the right. Again, the result is to face the body of the toy in a direction to the left of its initial position. By repeating this operation, the toy may be made to turn through any desired angle.

The operation of steering of the toy to the right is entirely analogous to the operation of steering to the left, and further detailed description of it is believed unnecessary.

What I claim is:

l. A wheeled toy comprising a body, a pair oi spaced axles pivoted at their centers on said body for limited angular movement about vertical axes. four wheels, one at each end of each of said axles, means associated with said wheels for preventing reverse rotation thereof, a tie pivot-ally connected at its ends to said axles at opposite sides of their respective pivot axes so that axles move angularly concurrently but in opposite directions, a spring having on end fixed to the tie bar and its opposite end fixed to the body and continuously efiective to bias said axles toward opposite ends of their respective ranges of movement, and operating means including a pair of relatively movable members, one continuously connected to said body and the other continuously connected to said tie bar, said members being effective when relatively moved inone sense to move said tie bar relative to said body against said spring and thereby cause an advancing movement of one end of each of said axles, said being effective upon a subsequent release or said members to move said tie bar in the opposite direction and cause an advancing movement of the opposite end of each of said axles and relative movement of said members in the opposite sense, so that upon intermittently operating and releasing said moving means, the opposite ends of the axles are alternately advanced under the continuous and effective control of said operating means to move the toy forward with a simulated walking motion.

2. A wheeled toy comprising a body, a pair of spaced axles pivoted at their centers on said body for limited angular movement about vertical axes, four wheels, one at each or" said axles,means associated with said wheels for preventing reverse rotation thereof, a tie bar pivotally connected at its ends to said axles at opposite sides of their respective pivot axes so that said axles move angularly concurrently but in opposite directions, said tie bar being formed with a loop intermediate its ends, a spring having one end fixed to the loop in the tie bar and its opposite end fixed to the body and continuously effective to bias said axles toward opposite ends of their respective ranges of movement, a Bowden wire cable including a sheath and an internal wire and having one end of the sheath fixed to said body and the corresponding end of the wire fixed to the loop in the tie bar, and means at the other end of the cable for operating said Bowden wire and tie bar against said spring to cause an advancing movement of one end of each of said axles, said spring being efiective upon a subsequent release of said cable operating means to move said tie bar in the opposite direction and cause an advancing movement of the opposite end of each of said axles, so that upon alternately operating and releasing said operating means, the opposite ends of the axles are alternately advanced to move the toy forward With a simulated walking motion.

3. A wheeled toy comprising a body, front and rear axles pivoted at their centers on the ends of said body for movement about vertical axes through limited angles on either side of central positions at right angles to said body, four wheels, one at each end of each of said axles, means associated with said wheels for preventing reverse rotation thereof, means connecting said axles for concurrent movement about their respective vertical axes in opposite directions, so that the axles reach opposite ends of their respective ranges of movement simultaneously and pass through their respective central positions simultaneously, means continuously biasing said connecting means and said axles toward the respective ends of their ranges of movement, and means continuously connected to said connecting means and operable from. a remote point for moving said connecting means and said axles against said biasing means, said remotely operable means being efiecti've when alternately operated and released to reciprosate said axles to alternately advance their opposite ends so that the toy moves forward with a simulated Wallzi 1g motion, said remotely operable means being effective when operated through onehalf of its range of movement to reciprocate the axles of one side only of their central positions and thereby cause a turning movement of the .toy in one direction, and effective when operated through the other half or" its range of movement to reciprocate the axles on the other side only of their central positions and thereby cause a turning movement of the toy the opposite direction.

HARRY SEBEL,

REFERENCES was The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 538,007 Adam Apr. 23, 1895 1,800,587 Appleby Apr. 14, 1931 1,938,129 Arnold Dec. 5, .1933 2,191,184 Voorheis Feb. 26, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 442,755 France June 28, 1912 496,149 Germany Apr. 23, 1930 

